Richard Cohen gets it...

Better to be a "do-er" than to be done. In the game, playing, rather than safely on the sidelines ... advising.

I suffer from Tea Party envy. There is little about the actual party I like and there are some members I abhor, but I am jealous of its sense of purpose, its determination and its bracing conviction that it is absolutely right. In its own way, it waves a crimson battle flag while President Obama’s is a sickly taupe — the limp banner of an ideological muddle.

Life. Be in it.
First step, try a little independence, especially fiscal independence. Really, it won't hurt a bit...

*Did you cling to the things they sold you? Did you cover your eyes when they told you...*

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ADDED: More Cohen:

Obama would be a good White House chief of staff, but as a president he lacks political savvy. He never knew how to get ahead of the Tea Party wave. He never knew how to marshal — or create — his own constituency. Republican invective notwithstanding, he lacks demagogic tools. He tries to solve problems instead of, for the Republicans, creating them. Barack Obama does not do pain.

Like in that last post, it's a shame it had it so easy. Pain, like hunger, sometimes, if you're smart, is quite a teacher:

No pain, no gain.

Which brings us to today's elite D.C. society: entitled, losing, and still thinking they deserve more. Sorry kiddos and fatcats, game over.

The rousing causes of yesteryear have faded — civil rights, voting rights, women’s rights and the antiwar fervor of the Vietnam era. Even gay rights has lost its urgency. Gay people get elected to public office and can marry in certain states. The outcome of this fight is not in doubt.

Obama’s slogan was “Change.” It was supposed to suggest no more politics for the sake of politics. No more special-interest legislation. No more bridges to nowhere. But ever since the New Deal, the Democrats have been the party of programs. They spend money, and now there is really no money to spend. For the Democrats, this is a considerable challenge. They are empty of political innovation.